Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Archives

How medtech could be affected by a U.S. government shutdown

[Image from Unsplash]The FDA is expected to continue much of its operations if the U.S. government shuts down this weekend, while CMS and the NIH face some government shutdown uncertainties.

The critical deadline for lawmakers in the U.S. to extend federal funding is rapidly approaching, and House Republicans have yet to reach an agreement over passing a bipartisan deal that would prevent a government shutdown. The shutdown would affect Americans’ lives in many ways, including the closure of national parks, museum closures, airport delays, federally-funded infrastructure work and more. However, essential services would continue, and that includes most operations at the FDA.

Presently, the FDA has carryover user fee funding that allows for the agency to continue operations of certain activities, including the regulation of human and animal drugs, biosimilar biological products and medical devices.

Medical device user fees support the review and approva…

Proposed 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule could have a big impact on glaucoma surgeries

[Photo by Tobias Dahlberg]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and issued a call for feedback on the proposed rule, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2023.

Medtech analyst Ryan Zimmerman and the team at BTIG went through the 2,000-page document and identified potentially market-moving changes in two areas: surgical glaucoma and advanced wound care.

CMS proposed cuts for most surgical glaucoma procedure payment rates to physicians, with double-digit losses for tube shunt revision (down 25% from $1,032 to $774), canaloplasty (down 19.9% from $761 to $610) and canaloplasty with a stent (down 11.4% from $799 to $708), according to BTIG research.

The canalplasty rate reduction would likely hit Omni surgical system developer Sight Sciences, Zimmerman said in a BTIG report. It could also give a lift to Alcon and Glaukos, which could see…

HHS reports 63-fold increase in telehealth use during pandemic

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A new study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found a 63-fold increase in Medicare telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report analyzed Medicare fee-for-service data from 2019 and 2020 and highlighted that people in urban areas were more likely to seek and use telehealth services than rural residents. In addition, the report found that Medicare beneficiaries who were Black were less likely than white beneficiaries to use telehealth.

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

HHS reports 63-fold increase in telehealth use during pandemic

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A new study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that there was a 63-fold increase in Medicare telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report analyzed Medicare fee-for-service data frmo 2019 and 2020 and highlighted that telehealth services were more sought after and accessed more in urban areas and rural communities. The report also showed that Black Medicare beneficiaries were less likely than white beneficiaries to use telehealth.

“This report provides valuable insights into telehealth usage during the pandemic,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a news release. “CMS will use these insights – along with input from people with Medicare and providers across the country – to inform further Medicare telehealth policies.”

Specialists like behavioral health provider…

How medtech fared in the first waves of the pandemic

[Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash]Medtech industry revenue, research spending and employment declined in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcing analysis of financial data.

Total sales, R&D spending and employment for the world’s largest medical device companies declined in 2020 and early 2021, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcing analysis tallying the ongoing pandemic’s initial toll on the industry.

To compare performance before and during the pandemic, MDO used the financial data that we’ve historically gathered to rank our Big 100 companies in the last three years. The majority of these companies reported full-year results for 2020; others operate on a fiscal year and reported annual results in the first half of 2021.

Some companies are not in this year’s Big 100 but were included in the analysis because they were ranked in pre-pandemic years. The handful of companies that joined this yea…

How medtech fared in the first waves of the pandemic

[Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash]

Medtech industry revenue, research spending and employment declined in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcing analysis of financial data.

Total sales, R&D spending and employment for the world’s largest medical device companies declined in 2020 and early 2021, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcing analysis tallying the ongoing pandemic’s initial toll on the industry.

To compare performance before and during the pandemic, MDO used the financial data that we’ve historically gathered to rank our Big 100 companies in the last three years. The majority of these companies reported full-year results for 2020; others operate on a fiscal year and reported annual results in the first half of 2021.

Some companies are not in this year’s Big 100 but were included in the analysis because they were ranked in pre…